United Spain

• Iberian Peninsula divided into 3 kingdoms

1. Portugal
2. Castile : largest and richest area, sheep farming, still fighting Muslims
3. Aragon : consisted of 3 areas -
   Catalonia (heart of the kingdom, commercial region)
   Aragon itself
   Valencia (farming and fishing)

• Isabella married Ferdinand, future king of Sicily & heir to the throne of Aragon
• Castilian nobles opposed their union but they created the Kingdom of Spain\

<Ferdinand & Isabella>

• Cortes : The legislatures of the Spanish kingdoms which were made up of representatives of the Church, aristocracy, and towns.

<The Centralization of Power>

• To reinforce the authority, F & I reduced the # of nobles in the royal council
• hidalgo - a lesser aristocrats who depdended heavily on royal favor - became very important in gov.
• 1480s and 1490s - nobles became powerful
• F & I wanted to reduce the nobles' autonomy to a level that did not threaten central authority
• <Independent of the Church
• When F & I destroyed the power of the Muslims, the pope granted them a right to control the Church
• Charles 1 - gained complete control over Church appointment

<Royal Administration>

• corregidor -a minor royal official - gained new powers and a position of responsibility in administrative hierarchy
• monarchs had full power to overrule the decisions of local courts

<The Increase of Revenues>

• F & I were successful to improve their finances
• alcabala - the yoeld of the sales tax

<Religious Zeal>

• F & I drove the Muslims and all Jews from their kingdoms
• The religious zeal intensified Spaniards' loyalty

<The Inquisition>

• F & I obtained a permission to establish their own Inquisition
• Conversos and Moriscos : onverted Jews and former Muslims
• People who did not convert their religions to Catholicism were expelled
• the persecution -> religious unity -> political centralization

<Military and Diplomatic Achievements>

• Ferdinand entered the wat in Italy
• army - most effective in Europe
• ambassadors -> best-informed and most effective maneunerer in the int. politics

Charles V, Holy Roman Empire

<The Revolt of the Communes>

• When Charles was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire(1519), subjects feared that he would become an absentee ruler
• changes in communes' reactions
• deep resentment but vabue -> wanted the growth of royal power & restore a traditional autonomy -> attacks on the privileged orders of society

<Imperial Ambitions>

• large empire in Central and S. Africa - most notable extension of royal power
• But Charles did little to further the expansion started by F & I

<Royal Government>

• When Charles was out of country, his representatives enlarged bureaucracy and system of councils
• There are 2 types of counil
• one for each department of gov. - finance, war, the Inquisition, etc.
• the other for each territory the crown ruled - Aragon, Castile,Italy. etc.
• Council of State: the principal advisory group, consisting of leading officials from the lower councils
• A viceroy in each area ran the administration under an audencia - a territorial council

<The Financial Toll of War>

• only serious problem of Charles's monarchy - financial (the result of Hapsburgs' constant wars)

<New World Trade>

• Charles's finances were saved by silver from America
• But later, constant wars caused a bankrupt
• good example that constant wats can sap the strength of even the nost formidable nation

The Splintered States

<The Holy Roman Empire>

• Hapsburgs - leading family of Central Europe - lacked the authority and machinery to halt fragmentation of the large territory

<Local Independence>

• Princes rarely had any trouble resisitng Emperor's claims
• Cities refused to remain subordinate to a central gov.
• Diet - the only central institution alongside the emperor
• consisted of 3 assemblies: representatives of cities, the princes, and 7 electors who elected each new emperor
• late 15C -> princes gained more considerable power

<Attemps at Centralization>

• Emperor created a tribunal to settle disputes among local powers
• The tribual's use of Roman law had a wide influence on legislation & justice
• Religious dissensions of the Reformation worsened the rivalies (Charles V and princes)

<Power and Decline in Hungary>

• late 15C, dominant force in Europe was the Kingdom of Hungary ruled by Matthias Corvinus
• Matthias-> restrained the great nobles, extended and centralized his admin.increased the yield of taxation, established a standing army
• Ladislas II -> Matthias's successor
• nobles became the majot beneficiaries of the conquest of Hungary

<The Fragmentation of Poland>

• nobles united against the king

<The Ottoman Empire>

• 16C - strong central authority
• powers throughout the E. Mediterranean & N.Africa
• Suleima II - whose conquest brought the empire to its largest size
• Afer Suleiman II, the empire began to decline

<Republics in Italy>

• Balance of Power
• peace was broken when Milan asked Charles VIII of France to help protect from Florence & Naples
• Venice(oligarchy) & Florence(Medici family) - model republics

<The Italian Wars>

• Charles's invasion -> expulsion of Medici from Florence
• Only Venice & Papal States remained relatively independent

The New Shape of Industry:

-Toward a New Economic Order:
Industrialization required innovations in technology
Impediments to Economic Innovation-
-small size of European markets that were isolated from one another for various reasons (physical barriers laws, political frontiers, etc.)
-skewed demand due to generally small aristocracy economy organized to serve them no incentive to manufacture many inexpensive goods
-governments also restricted innovation: by practices to benefit themselves
Adam Smith- Scottish philosopher, wrote An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nation, founding father of laissez-faire theory- Let individuals freely pursue their own economic interests free individual enterprise would create more wealth than any artificial regulation could encourage

-The Roots of Economic Transformation in England:
-England first to develop a social structure that supported innovation and economic growth mostly due to geography

The New Statement
<New international Relations>

• Italians' essential innovation - the resident ambassador

<Machiavelli>

• The Prince, being a fearful ruler is rather than being a nice person
• did not deny the force of religion ort law